There You'll Be
by Chiiharu
Summary: AU. In my dreams, I'll always see you soar above the sky. In my heart there will always be a place for you. And everywhere I am, there you'll be. For Rhia-chan8910's OC contest.


**A/N:** I would have LOVED to do this as a chapter-fic... XD;;;

I think it would have been better, but what's an 8k long oneshot? Let's see... Okay, after playing Call of Duty... And just falling in love with that kind of stuff... And watching movies in World History class and just... Man... World War II and I and stuff... I just wanted to do something to that. XD Pearl Harbor was a big factor for me. :D

I'm so mad I had to chop this up! TT_TT

... Anyway, this is my entry for the OC contest! Rhia-chan8910's contest! :)

I hope you don't think this is too long! I wrote this all today! XD

Also. Kukki = Cookie.

Kuranberi = Cranberry.

And... My main Mew is Kuranberi. XD;;

Ah hey! XD All of my main characters have 'k' names! :D Ah, and one more thing. "Shooting from the sights" is a term used in Call of Duty Modern Warfare II; it's when you shoot from your hip... Otherwise, not aiming. They get mad when you shoot from your sights. XD Also called point shooting, where you rely on your instinctive reactions, kinematics, and the use of body mechanics that can be employed effectively in life threatening emergencies, to quickly engage close targets. There you are. Some shooting tips.

What Kuranberi does with her rifle towards the end is reflexive fire--point shooting with a _rifle._

* * *

**-: There You'll Be :-**

_In my dreams_  
_I'll always see you soar_  
_Above the sky_  
_In my heart_  
_There will always be a place_  
_For you for all my life_  
_I'll keep a part_  
_Of you with me_  
_And everywhere I am_  
_There you'll be_  
_And everywhere I am_  
_There you'll be_

— Faith Hill — "There You'll Be"

Back then were the old days. Ha, I couldn't even begin to explain how much fun we had.

It was me and Kukki. Those were some good times. Kukki had always had some of the most light-brown eyes I had ever seen. And she was my best friend. We used to play outside all the time. See, times were a little tough back then. The world had been fighting with those aliens. The Cyniclons. But we weren't scared. Heh, knowing Kukki... She wasn't afraid of most things. You could only admire someone for something like that.

She had some of her sandy hair in a ponytail—the rest of it falling against the back of her neck. She was always smiling, too. It kind of made me mad back then. I could never figure out why she always had a cheesy grin on her face, but she did. We used to play outside just chasing each other around. Back then we didn't know what war was.

Sure, we heard about it. People from all over the world came to Japan to take part in the Mew Project. Ryou Shirogane was the leader of the thing. At first, I guess the whole thing was unheard of; it was an illegal project. But as soon as the Cyniclons started to invade us with more force... More fire... He decided to come out with it. And now the Mew Mews were like the new army here or something like that. No, the new army of the world.

And we wanted to join that army. Kukki and me.

Saving the world was one of her biggest dreams, and just because she was Kukki... I couldn't let her have all the glory, right? I wanted to be just like her. I looked up to her. I grabbed a broom-stick and waved it to my side, smiling. We were two young idiots, weren't we? I pointed in front of me and tried to look really important. _"Rrrrrrrm!"_ My bomb interpretations weren't that sharp back then, I'd admit. "A Cyniclon! Two 'o clock!" I shouted, switching my footing. Kukki jumped in front of me, throwing both of her hands in the air.

"Don't worry, I've got you Kuranberi! Mew Mew Kukki—Metmina-sis!" she shouted, twirling around in a circle. "Ha! Now no one stands a chance against us! Don't worry, that alien doo-doo head is going down!" I looked back at Kukki, smiling. She didn't look very intimidating, especially with her front tooth missing. It had fallen out a couple of days before we decided to come to my house today. We loved to play in the fields. I inhaled the scent of the outdoors and put my hand on my hip, wiping some of my hair out of my eyes.

"It's Metamopho-sis!" I said, throwing my hands in the air and twirling around, just like Kukki had done. "Say it right Kukki! We can't be Mew Mews if we don't get the saying right you know!"

"Thanks Kuranberi," she said, nodding her head. She got right back into position. We had a lot of teamwork. A blind man could see that a thousand miles away. My grip tightened on my broomstick and I jumped behind her, pointing it in the air. I made a few more bomb noises and Kukki pretended to punch the air a couple of times. She had a great way with her fists... Heh, she scared me a lot of times. I thought she was going to accidentally punch me on multiple occasions, but I couldn't look weak in front of Kukki.

I turned around quickly, opening my mouth. "Woah! There's a whole bunch of Chimera Anima behind us!" Kukki took the order, turning around and acting like she owned two pairs of guns. She made shooting noises and I turned around, pretending to be shooting stuff from my broomstick. "Keep shootin' Kukki!"

"Keep shootin' Kukki!" she reiterated, pretending to shoot even more rounds. I nodded my head, smiling from ear to ear. She always found a way to make me happy. Yeah, it was almost time to go inside, but we hadn't defeated the bad guys yet.

"Roger, loud and clear Kukki!" I answered back, running around and making a circle in the ground with my broomstick.

"You're the one with the brain, Kuranberi!"

After that we had played for a couple more minutes before it got really dark. We looked up into the sky... And even though we were so far away from any kind of fighting going on, you could practically see the sky turning all kinds of colors. The colors were so pretty to look at during the nighttime. To this day I don't know why we acted like a bunch of idiots watching those explosions go off in the sky. All we knew was that those lights belonged to Mew Mews. Real Mew Mews. And we wanted to be just like them. The Cyniclons had managed to make a base right on Earth, but no one knew were it was exactly.

But the Mews still fought.

We'd give anything—anything to be able to fight like them. I heard footsteps and the two of us turned around. We hadn't seen anything, but we did see the old cafe tables and chairs my mother had just sitting outside. We had almost forgotten about that! Most of the chairs were broken, but there was still one that we knew could be reliable for sitting in. Whoever got to sit in the chair was the leader. The first in command. We instantly ran over to the table. "I get the chair!" Kukki said, trying to run faster than me. She couldn't beat me at my own game.

"No, you can sit on the table!" I implored, jumping over the chair and sitting in it. Kukki looked at me with her big, round eyes, pouting.

"I'm bigger, so I should sit in the chair!"

"I'm older and I'm teachin', so no!" I shot back, taking my position. Cafe stuff was a big deal back then. You weren't a real Mew unless you worked at a cafe. Of course... Mews didn't do that anymore, but when they had meetings they would always meet at this one, big, huge cafe. Sitting in that chair made me feel like a leader. I tell you... That cafe stuff had real powers. Kukki had been just sitting on top of the table and she felt like she was on top of the world.

"Wow! It feels like we're inside of the real thing!"

"Heh, I know!" I said triumphantly. "Now let's get this meeting going! We have to take out all of those Cyniclon doo-doo heads!" After I said that, both of us started making explosion noises, much like the ones that were popping off in the sky. We were going haywire. Kukki even started to rock the table. I guess Kukki rocked it too much and all four of the legs gave out. She fell pretty hard on the ground. Normally, I would have laughed but she looked really hurt. I put out my hand and she grabbed it. "You okay, Kukki?" She nodded her head silently.

We both had a bad feeling...

I don't know... But we weren't feeling too good. The lights that were in the air had disappeared and lets face it; we were both afraid of the dark. But none of us were prepared for what happened next. We knew that it was way too late to be outside so we turned around, heading towards the house. Sure, my mom would have been really mad about the table, but if we left now we could blame it on something else! Plus, my dad wasn't home from work. "Hurry Kukki, you're running too slow!" I laughed, watching her stumble. She didn't even know where she was running. It was too dark to see the path.

Because we were such great friends... We didn't want to seem weak in front of each other. I ran right behind Kukki, and without thinking I bumped right into her. I had fell on the ground, right on my butt. I rubbed my head, glancing up. All I could see was Kukki's back. She had stopped for some reason, and Kukki wasn't one to just stop running like that... Even if she saw something really scary, she would never stop. She would keep running and never look back. That was just the way she had always been. "Oh come on Kukki, are you scared—?" I chuckled, getting up and dusting my pants off.

That's when I caught my first glimpse of one of those... Things.

A Chimera Anima.

It had to be one, I was sure of it. It was breathing on Kukki. She looked so petrified. She couldn't move and she couldn't blink. That was the first time I had seen her like that. She didn't look like the Kukki I knew. She took one step back, her mouth open wide. Of course she backed up into me in the process, but I think I was too shocked to care. It was a smiley monster. I couldn't even begin to explain it. It was a worm... But it had a huge mouth. It also had a million razor-sharp teeth inside of it... Every time it breathed it showed us its teeth, whether we wanted to see them or not. It was covered in what I thought was snot. I couldn't take my eyes off it...

It slinked up closer to us, leaving a trail of slime behind it. I wanted to run... She wanted to run. She looked back at me, her eyes dilated in fear. Was this what they fought? Was this real...?

"It's a monster!! It's a monster!!" Kukki screamed, hyperventilating as she fell back on her hands. "We're going to die Kuranberi! We're going to die and no one is going to hear us! Please, run away! I'll be the d-distraction!" No. I couldn't do that to my best friend. Not like this. I glanced at her, and then I glanced at the big worm in front of us. It looked like it was about to regurgitate something. I didn't want to find out. Kukki wanted me to be safe but I couldn't just leave her there. No way. Not Kukki.

"Kukki!" I screamed, grabbing her hand. I had picked her up by her hand just in time. She had jumped at the sensation of my touch. She really thought I was going to leave her there. And can you believe that she got angry? I could see it in her face as I tried to run away with her hand glued to mine.

"Why'd you do that you knuckle-head?!" she yelled. I was going to answer her but she tripped over a rock. I knew the monster was behind us and I turned around. She looked at me with pleading eyes, reaching out towards me. "Kuranberi!"

She couldn't die.

_She couldn't die._

I—I wouldn't ever forgive myself.

The worm spat something at her. It was like a brown pudding. It was sticky and it glued Kukki to the ground. That thing was going to eat her if I didn't do something! "Kukki!!" I yelled, running back to her. I didn't care if I was killed! I had to save my friend! And before I could reach her, an orange light lit up the face of the worm. I looked behind me and I saw a really bright figure... The woman had carroty orange hair. It was really curly and fell over her left eye. The woman wore an orange and white dress... Well, it was white, but the top of it was orange-sequined. The bottom-half of the dress was really flowy and it had a high slit and an open front. Also, it was floor length. She wore a pair of short orange shorts under it and a garter. Kukki and I were amazed.

It was my mother, and she had a basketball in her hands.

And my mother never transformed.

Not after she dropped out of the war. That was before I was born! I stood there with our mouths completely open. My mother had whiskers protruding from her face... She also had a orange tail and two pointy ears. It was like a fox-tail, though. She looked mad, but I didn't care. Kukki managed to free herself from the goopy substance and she ran to my side. "She's beautiful!" Kukki sighed, clapping her hands together.

"Reborn!" my mom shouted, spinning her basketball on her finger. "Shizune Free Throw!" She readied her ball, dribbling it on the ground. While she ran, she left a trail of orange light behind her. When she got close enough to the monster, she stopped and smacked it dead in the face with her ball. That set off an explosion of light. After that, the Chimera Anima disappeared on us completely. Kukki collapsed on the ground, smiling like an idiot.

"That was awesome!"

"You're in big trouble, missy," my mother sighed, detransforming. A jellyfish thing started to float in the air. Both of us looked at it until my mother took off her earring. Weird, she had always worn that one earring... She never had the other one. I always wondered what it was for. She threw it up into the air and this machine came out of nowhere, eating the jellyfish thing up. It lit up, humming some kind of song.

"All gone, Shinini!" it chimed. My mother smiled and nodded her head, holding the puff-ball close to her. It turned back into an earring and she put it back into her ear. Kukki couldn't hold her excitement in. She jumped back up, grinning.

"That was awesome, Kuranberi's Mom!" she said. My mother still wasn't impressed. "You're a Mew Mew? Wow! That's so cool! Kuranberi has the best mom in the world!" That wasn't true. I loved my mom, but just because she was a Mew Mew didn't mean anything... Who was I kidding? I was just as impressed as Kukki was! I jumped up in the air too, giving her a high-five.

"Yeah it was awesome!"

"Did you see when she threw that basketball?!"

"Did you see when she saved you!?"

We started laughing, but my mother sighed and grabbed both of us by our shirts. "Now, now girls. It's late. Kukki, we have to get you home. And Kuranberi," she said, looking at me. I knew I was in trouble. "We're going to have a talk when your friend leaves."

Maybe she was mad at us that day.

But we knew one thing.

We wanted to be just like her.

We wanted to be Mew Mews too.

* * *

"Okay Kukki!" I said, bending over a bit. "We're going to show these people how it's done and I'm going to show everyone what we are capable of doing! We're going to play chicken!" Heh. I was so excited. We were Mew Mews now. _Real_ Mew Mews. We were just beginners... Rookies. And if we were rookies, we weren't supposed to transform yet. I mean, even if we knew how to transform we couldn't. It was against the rules. Now we were just testing our endurance. Kukki glared at me, pouting.

"Kuranberi!" she said, scoffing. "We are not in your backyard anymore and I'm not going to play chicken with you." She had grown so much since then. She was taller than me and had all of her light-brown hair put in a side-ponytail. She had her arms folded now. She thought she could beat me at everything we did... But when I tried to get a competition started, she always got angry. We were a couple of yards away from each other. I smirked, getting ready to launch my feet off the ground.

"Now don't be a baby," I said, mocking her. She looked back at me. She looked so hurt.

"I'm doing it, Kuranberi," she sighed. I started running towards her, the rest of the rookies looking at us. She didn't know what she was getting herself into. We weren't supposed to know what DNA we were injected with until we transformed. For all she knew—I could have been a tiger or something! She didn't know what I was capable of. But if I knew Kukki, she had something up her sleeve.

"You can either hit me or stand there, Kukki! I'm coming right at you!" I yelled, balling my fist up. I saw General Ryou looking at us. He was old. Really old. Okay, so he wasn't that old but you could tell he wasn't really young either. He had on sunglasses... Coming off as cool and mysterious. General Shirogane wasn't just the only person watching us. He had Zakuro with him too and she gave us _that look._ Hmph, I didn't care. This was between Kukki and I! I ran past the two of them and Kukki braced herself.

"What the..." Ryou muttered to himself. Zakuro still gave me a weird look.

"Oh boy..." Zakuro sighed, standing up straight. "This can't end well." I had met up with Kukki and threw a fist at her face. She caught it, throwing my arm down to my side. I tried to get her with a right kick but she swiftly moved out of the way, her eyes widening. Damn, I almost had her but she was really fast. Faster than me, anyway. She gritted her teeth, trying to back up. I didn't want to give her any time to recover.

"Yo!" Kukki grunted, frowning. "Why're you always trying to bust my ass, Kuranberi?!" I didn't give her an answer. "Okay, tell me where you're going to run."

"Right. No! Left!" I said, looking the other way. I started to make a run for it. She would never catch me.

"Okay, so we're going right, right?"

"Right—"

"Right like we're going right or right like we're going left?!" she yelled, trying to chase me. I turned around at her, scoffing.

"Well now you've got me all mixed up! I don't know—make up your mind!" Abruptly I turned around, trying to test my best friend. I started to run at full speeds and she didn't slow down. "Alright we're turning left now, right?!" I yelled. We were going to run into each other at this rate. She didn't want to slow down and neither was I. She nodded her head and before we collided into each other we both side-stepped out of the way, making the other rookies cheer. Ryou and Zakuro didn't say anything. They just watched us. We on the other hand...? We were so happy that we made something like that work!

"Those are some smooth asses..." one guy said. Ryou turned around instantly, his hands in his pockets.

"Did you say something?" he said, getting all defensive. Time didn't make that guy a nice person, believe you me. "Because those silly girls are grounded."

"Yes Sir! They are not doing the things you wanted them to do Shirogane Sir!" Kukki and I stopped and looked at the blondie. Ryou wiped strands of his hair out of his eyes. He _still _thought he was cool.

"Get my hat, please," he said, motioning to the guy he just silenced. "Zakuro? Please. Get those girls into my office."

* * *

"So you think having endangered DNA is fun, girls?" Shirogane said, walking around us with a swagger. I shook my head. Well, of course we did, but that wasn't something you just told him up front. Kukki had to stop herself from jumping up and down. She had a problem with that...

"Well no Sir!" she said, blinking. He kept looking at her.

"And when you two broke all of those trees in the forest. What did you think that was?" ...I didn't think he knew about that. It was my idea, honest. I couldn't let her take the fall for that. I stepped up in front of Kukki, looking towards the wall. You were never supposed to look him in the face. Your eyeballs would melt from how cocky he thought he was. "You thought you were training your skills? That's not training Kuranberi. That's a stunt. I consider it to be reckless and irresponsible."

"Major...?" I said, glancing back at the wall. For a guy who thought he was the whole entire world, he had a lot of trophies on his back wall. "How can you say that when you were the first man in the world to witness it happen?"

"I don't think you're helping yourself in this situation," he said sarcastically. After that he folded his arms. "Do you think I'm a fool?"

"Oh no Sir. I don't mean to be disrespectful. I just think... I know it's dangerous and irresponsible just to do it to be a showoff but we did it to try and inspire the men, Shirogane Sir!" I paused, trying to keep myself calm and collected. "...In the way you inspired me. I think you should get an award for that. When everyone comes together to follow their leaders. A leader badge or something."

"A what?" he said, acting like he didn't hear what I just said. He just didn't care. I let out a silent sigh.

"A leader badge."

"That's a bunch of crap," he said back flatly. "Very, very _nice_ crap." Heh. I smirked a little. No matter what everyone else said, Shirogane was a really nice guy.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Kuranberi? You remind me of myself fifteen years ago. Which is why we need to talk about this." He walked over to his desk and pulled out a letter. He motioned Kukki to step out of the room and she didn't hesitate. I knew she wanted to be in that room with me too. All I could do was listen to what Shirogane had to say. I grabbed a chair, my eyes fixated on him. He opened up the letter and I couldn't tell where he had been getting at. He passed me the letter and licked his lips a little. "They want you to fight the Cyniclons head on with the oethers. And you know... Being that you're still a rookie and all... If you still want to follow that dream of yours..."

What?!

I couldn't believe him. He had to be joking. They wanted _me_, of all people? "W—wow..."

"Yes, it's true. All we have are a few more Cyniclons to fight. They'll retreat in a second. They're going to need all the help they can get in taking the rest of them out. Maybe you'll get to meet the original team, save for Zakuro." I couldn't refuse! I stood up and saluted to him.

"Yes Sir. I'm on my way!" I thought that was the end of the meeting but he got up too.

"Kuranberi, I have to tell you that I was asked to ask you if you really want to go. They want me to convince you to resign." Oh well, there goes all of my spirit. He threw a newspaper on the desk in front of me. "Sooner or later... They'll be more of them. They'll come with more monstrous Chimera Anima. It's going to get dangerous. And I'm going to need all of my best Mew Mews. So it's my duty to ask you to stay." Yes, I could see why he would ask me that... After all, I would be leaving Kukki behind...

"General Shirogane? What would you do?" He walked towards the window, sighing again. I swear, that was his trademark.

"If it was me...?" He looked back at me, smirking. "I'd go."

* * *

"Wait!" Kukki called out. I had already had all of my bags packed and everything. "How could you do this?" Why would she ask me something like that? This was my dream come-true! This was our dream _coming _true!

"Well... General Shirogane assigned me!" I answered back. "It's just going to be another thing of combat training, yeah?" Kukki didn't take that too well, like I knew she wouldn't. She took a few steps forward before she turned right back around again.

"Well guess what?! That's not combat training over there. It's war. Where losers die. There aren't any winners, just guys who turn into broken down wrecks like my father." Hmph. I looked at her like she was crazy. This didn't have anything to do about her father.

"Yeah I understand that Kukki, but I feel like I have a duty to go."

"Don't preach to me about duty dammit! I wear the same uniform you do! Now if trouble wants me I'm ready for it. But why go looking for it?" This wasn't the Kukki I knew. She lived for danger. I touched her on the shoulder and she refused to look at me.

"Oh come on Kukki! I'm twenty-one now! I might as well be... Be a drill instructor or something like that! I don't want to be yelling at people! I want to be a Mew Mew!" She was going to say something else, but the guy waiting for me in the car yelled something at me. I wasn't paying attention to him, but the way Kukki turned around caught my attention... I gave her one last look before I slung my stuff across my shoulder.

"Goodbye, Kukki. After I pass medical examinations I'm going to go, and there's nothing you can do to stop me," I mummered, getting on the car and never looking back. "Just a few more months and I'll be gone. You'll never know I'm not playing chicken with you."

* * *

Being in a bus full of girls never sat too will with Kiyoshi, especially when he was in a bus full or nurses. All they did was talk about taking care of Mew Mews. Normally Mew Mews were girls—but that didn't mean there weren't any males ones either. And the people he was currently sitting with wanted to meet lots of 'Mew boys'.

"Ladies, this is not a vacation!" one of the women said, laughing. Kiyoshi looked at her through the corners of his green eyes, sighing. "We're nurses!"

"Oh please Cornelia, we all know why you're here!"

"Yeah. To meet Mew boys, of course!"

Laughter ensued and he couldn't stand it. Why did he even know who those girls were? Eventually Cornelia—the woman with her blonde hair in a bun—looked at Kiyoshi. "Aww, you act like you're not having any fun, Kiyoshi! You should be just as happy as we are! You have more of a selection!" A light tint of pink covered his face as he tried to look away. He just didn't like involving himself with things like this. "Go on and tell them, Kiyoshi!"

"Tell us what~?" the other women asked in unison. He sighed.

"It's... It's nothing!" he insisted. "... It was just... I was doing the standard Mew check. I was the one in charge of making sure everyone's eyes were okay." He paused, looking at everyone paying ample attention to him. "Then there she was. She had pink hair that tumbled down her back and dull, pink eyes. She handed me her paper work, covered up one eye and went 'KIAOTS'. I told her to slow down and she kind of smirked at me."

"Love at first sight then Kiyoshi~?!" Cornelia sighed, swaying to her left. Kiyoshi blinked again, waving his hands out. "I know I've heard the story a thousand times but it's so cute!" He glanced at her and cleared his throat.

"She had a friend standing behind her... Kukki, I think he name was. She was telling her the words after I had told Kuranberi to read the row over again with both of her eyes. The first time she had read it perfectly... But this time she started to stumble over her words—"

"—'Mister, it's not my eyes'," Cornelia said playfully, interrupting him. "'I can see really clearly! It's just that I—I can't read very well!' And then Kiyoshi goes 'Well, all Mew Mews have to have twenty-twenty vision'... And then she told him that she didn't pay too much attention in school, and he offered to give her lessons! Hmm! So romantic~!" The women started to make 'aww' sounds and he looked out of the window of the bus, sighing.

"And she told me... 'I'll never be a teacher, I know that, Mister. But I know what I want to be. I want to be a Mew Mew and I want to help my friends. When you're a Mew, you don't have to worry about books and reading. All you have to do is think about your dream... And it becomes a reality right before your eyes. And if that book says I'm a Mew Mew that can't read too well, it also says I'm the best damn Mew in this room right now. Mister. Please. Don't take my wings.' I couldn't do that to her, so I passed her. But after that... She wouldn't stop talking to me and... We fell in love and now she's out to war... I hope she come back to me. We are married, after all."

"Ohhh Kiyoshi!" Cornelia sighed, hugging him. "She'll come back to you! She has to! It's true love you guys have! Nothing or no one can come between it!"

* * *

I couldn't believe this. I couldn't believe this. I couldn't believe this. Words wouldn't even come out of my mouth. This was just unreal. I wanted to just sleep all of this off. I was just having a bad dream, I knew it. Kukki couldn't even catch her breath. She was just so out of it. Right now, I didn't have any words for her. "When you were gone, it was the loneliest I'd ever been. He'd ever been." I didn't know how to answer that. I just... I just facepalmed.

"You're crushing my heart, Kukki..."

She looked at me, frowning. What did she have to get mad over?! "If you hadn't of gone to war, none of this would have ever happened."

"Oh," I said, rolling my eyes. "So it's my fault all of this happened." She cursed under her breath and crawled out of the car window. Whatever. She got out and so did I. I think we needed fresh air anyway. We sat on the ground and she looked at me, holding both of her hands.

"Is... Is everything all right with you and me?"

"I don't think it ever can be. I just don't think it can ever be," I answered. Next thing I knew... There was this huge explosion. It was a _terrible _explosion. It shook me up completely inside. Kukki had thought I died. They all thought I had died. I went to war and was gone for five years, and this was how they paid me back? And now there were explosions going off all over the Goddamn place—trust me, the explosions weren't very far—I had to help out, didn't I? Someone ran up to us, scared out of his mind. We were sitting right outside of a bar.

"Aliens! They! Chimera Anima!" That's pretty much all we got from the guy. After that he took off running. Both of us stood up and turned around slowly. ...Pretty much, the guy was not lying. Twenty... Forty... Fifty of those things were coming our way. I didn't know what to do. My whole life I wanted to fight those things. I hadn't been afraid of them before... But now... The very things I were trying to fight destroyed my life...

Kukki didn't hesitate. "Mew Mew Kukki, Metamorpho—sis!" She extended both of her arms out to her sides, a warm, bright brown light engulfing her body. Her hair escaped from her rubber-band, falling against her shoulders. Her clothes melted away and she waved her hands in front of one another, light-brown gloves fitting over her fingers. She brought her arms to her sides, a faux, light-brown corseted dress covering her body. It also had faux black fir on the gathered shoulder seems of her dress. Her ferret ears appeared on top of her head and so did her black headband. Last but not least, her choker fastened around her neck, her black flats appearing at the same time.

And all I could do was watch. Kukki cursed at herself some more. "I hope they've got back up here, this is insane!!!" She thought I would say something, but I didn't. I wanted to die. But I couldn't move. I was so sad... I couldn't even walk towards my death. "What are you doing? Get moving!" she yelled, pushing me forward. I couldn't even think. The cries of people being lit on fire rang too loud on my ears.

People were dying.

People were _really_ dying.

Was this what I wanted to be? A Mew Mew?

To watch things happen like _this?_

"Kuranberi. Now transform and lets do this thing! Now I'm not that good without a wing-man, Goddamnit I need you!!" The flames got higher. The screams got louder. Buildings were collapsing and I swore that the sky turned three shades of red. The ground was tainted with blood. Were we the only Mews in the city...? Did I have to carry all this weight on my shoulders...? I couldn't take this anymore. I had to do something. I took a deep breath and kicked all of my thoughts out of my head.

"Mew Mew Kuranberi! Metamorpho—sis!" I yelled, a hot-pink light surrounding me. My clothes disappeared as well and I fell backwards, my flamingo wings sprouting from my back. My wings fluttered, causing enough friction to bring me back on my feet. My hair had gotten curlier, falling down my back. My top consisted of a hot-pink tuxedo shirt. To this day I don't understand why it was so small. It barely covered my stomach, and it had two black buttons on it. I wore some black shorts... But they were so close to _underwear_... I just didn't feel comfortable in my outfit. It was so skimpy... Kukki was always better than me. I looked over my shoulder, tugging at my black suspenders. They were connected to my 'shorts' by hot-pink buttons. My gloves were black and traveled all the way up to my elbows. I wore hot-pink fishnets with my black combat boots.

Kukki pumped her fist into the air, happy to see me transform. "Hah! I knew you could do it! For the sake of Tokyo! We _are_ the new Tokyo Mew Mew! Kukki Blast Mine Bombs!"

I put both of my hands up, closing my eyes. "This isn't for Tokyo," I corrected, opening my eyes up again. "This is for _Japan!_ Kuranberi Sneak Attack Sniper Rifle!"

Kukki ran blind into the fray, laying down as many mines as she could.

And _she _wasn't one that looked for danger? Liar.

I didn't look for danger.

And I cried like a baby as I collapsed on my knees, watching the city erupt in flames.

* * *

I was packing. I was minding my own business and packing. And there he was. Kiyoshi. I ignored him and started to put more of my clothes into my suitcase. I knew I couldn't ignore him for too long. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for Kukki."

Tch. He should have known where she was at. "Well, go find her then." I was going to get back up but he put his hand on the rest of my clothes. Whatever he had to say... I didn't want to listen to him at all. I glanced up at him, frowning. I cocked a brow, wondering what he would say next.

"You can't leave... Not without understanding the situation.." I looked into his green eyes, looked back at my clothes and sighed. I nodded my head. I understood everything. I understood everything perfectly clear.

"Well yeah, you don't have to explain anything to me."

"I do Kuranberi! Because you're acting like I never cared about you!" I stopped. I stood up straight and licked my lips again. I had a problem with dry lips. I zipped up my suitcase and looked right back at him.

"Kiyoshi. Loving you kept me alive back there!" I shot. After that I walked out of the house. Of course he tried to run after me. "I should have died over there! You hear me, Kiyoshi?! When I was over there on the front lines, I made a deal with God. I told him I was sorry. And that I was an idiot for going over there and trying to be a hero. That I was a fool for leaving you. And I promised him I'd never ask him for anything again if I could just see your face one more time..." Heh, I knew he wouldn't understand me. He looked at me like I was stupid. "You know what? It was worth it. You kept me alive. You brought me home. So I'm going to keep my end of the deal. I'm going to walk away, and I'm not going to ask you for anything."

"Kuranberi, you don't understand...!" he said. As if. I was done talking. "Kukki and I... We have a three-year-old son."

Someone kill me now.

… I'm sorry, but sometimes life asked for a four letter word. _Fuck, were you kidding me?!_ "Oh my God..." I sighed, not knowing where to look. He patted me on the back. How could he have done this to me? To my best friend?

"I'm not like most men... I wanted to be the father of a family Kuranberi. I wanted us to have a family. To grow old together. But life never asked me what I wanted. I have to be there for my son. But I don't think I could look at another sunset without thinking of you. I loved you my whole life. And I waited for you..."

Damn... All I could do was watch him as he walked away.

His whole life, huh?

* * *

"You know...?" the brunette began, looking down at Kiyoshi. Kukki looked him right in his eyes. "The only thing that scares me is that you might love her more than me." He looked at her, completely flabbergasted.

"I love you, Kukki. And when you beat the Cyniclons, I'll be here waiting for you when you come back."

He leaned in to kiss her, his lips overtaking her own. Yes, she could find comfort in his words.

* * *

"Sir! Is there something you heard about us, Sir?!" I said, standing up straight and saluting Shirogane. It was nice to see him again, for once. He still hadn't changed. He still was the same old man I had met years ago. It was a wonder that he was still alive, the old bag of bones. Kukki stood next to me too. It felt like old times all over again.

"Besides the fact that you were both drunk when the Cyniclons started attacking Tokyo?" I had every right to be drunk. I wasn't even drunk anyway. Maybe I had a few beers. So? I wasn't drunk and he needed to take that back. He sighed, dropping a the pen on the desk. Heh, he thought we were still afraid of him. "Or the fact that you let hundreds of people die before you decided to do something about it?" I thought he was going to hit me or something (why would I think that), but he walked towards the window. "You're both being awarded the silver star, and being promoted to captain."

Kukki thought that was the best thing she had heard in her life. You should have seen the way she tried to force words out of her mouth.

I wasn't buying it. "Is that the good news, Sir?"

"You two are about the only capable Mew Mews that have experience. I need you for a mission that I've put together." He turned around slightly, looking at me through the corner of his eyes. "You know what top secret is?"

"Yes Sir," I said, nodding my head. "It's a mission where you get medals. Good medals. But they send them to your family."

He nodded his head, like he was surprised I had answered his question. He was too old for this now. He needed to do what Ichigo did and retire. Boy, did he not listen to his wife... She told him to, but I digress. "Top secret means you're going to do something that's never been done before in Mew Mew history. And you go without knowing where you're going." I looked at him and blinked. "You do it on that basis... Or not at all." Heh, I didn't have a choice.

I nodded my head. "I'll go, Sir."

"I'll go too, Sir."

* * *

I was sitting next to a fire I had made myself, looking at all the notes Kiyoshi sent me... I didn't need them anymore. I burned each and every one... I wanted to read them over ten times and again and again... But I didn't need anymore bullshit. Kukki saw me and sat right next to me in the fields. "I've been looking everywhere for you." I sighed, throwing the rest of the notes in the fire. "You know, he's the first man I've ever felt this way about, Kuranberi. I couldn't help what happened anymore than you could."

I didn't answer her at first, but I decided to give it a shot. "This is different though, Kukki. Kiyoshi's already lost the woman he loved once. I don't have the heart to see that happen to him again."

"Girls like us have no choice. This is war. He knows that."

I shook my head. "Kukki, don't do this. Don't go on this mission. You've got nothing to prove."

This was serious, and yet she started smiling her trademark goofy smile. "You've been trying to protect me since we were kids." I couldn't deny that. Heh.

"Yeah, well... You do tend to need it from time to time." She patted me on my back and we started laughing together.

* * *

Everything was all hazy... It was an ambush. I didn't think I could make it out alive... My team... My team... I looked behind me and quickly turned back around. I could see them closing in on me. The aliens. The enemy. We were ambushed... They had pointy ears and—_I had never seen anything like them before!! _I started freaking out inside of my head. I couldn't do this. My team had been slaughtered by them... I had nothing left to lose. I started praying.

Actually praying.

I never prayed, but_ I hoped to God_ Kukki was still okay.

"Reborn... Kukki Total Annihilation!"

There Kukki was! I heard her voice and stood up, holding my arm. I was covered in sweat and blood. "Kukki!!" I yelled. I could see her now. She had set one of her mines too close to herself. She was a bloody mess now. She winced from the pain and I tried to run towards her. "Kukki! Take it easy! You saved my ass back there, believe it or not... You'll be fine! You know that, right?" She looked like she was in so much pain. She couldn't even bare to look at me.

"There's something—_arugh!_—in my neck!" After she said that she screamed in pain. It was a piece of her bomb. I pulled on it as hard as I could. Luckily it wasn't lodged in there all the way... Still, she was bleeding a lot. But this was_ Kukki_. Heh, she couldn't die on me! She was my best friend! I tried to pull it out of her neck but the facial expressions she kept making made my heart hurt. I decided to suck it in and pull harder, but something hit me really hard on the back of my head. I fell down instantly.

The Cyniclons surrounded me. They all had various weapons pointed at me as I rolled on my back. I was almost knocked unconscious. Luckily I had been hit with a gun. If that would have been a sword... I couldn't breathe. There was too much fire. Too much smoke. This was it. We were done for. This was our mission... A suicide mission... We couldn't infiltrate their base... We thought we had cleared it out but... I tried to be strong for my dead teammates. I tried to be strong for Kiyoshi. But my tears spilled over.

I felt like a loser.

A doo-doo head.

I just wanted them to kill me now. Kukki backed up, despite being in so much pain. She was breathing pretty heavy as the guy who hit me in the head with a gun pointed it towards_ her_ head. They started to tie me up... First my legs. I looked up at Kukki and I just got angry. Angry!!! Kukki thought she was going to be shot in the head. It was really weird once you thought about it. Out of all the weapons a Cyniclon could have...

"You think you can beat us in a simple human way? Well, we'll kill you in a simple human way!" Right before my eyes they came up with some sort of thing... They locked it around her shoulders, as if she was about to be beheaded. And all I could do was look at her. I couldn't help... She looked at me with fire in her eyes. She saw my tears and just... Exploded. She knocked the two aliens back that held her. Now was my chance!! I grabbed my sniper rifle, not even aiming. I was going to try to shoot from my sights.

"Reborn, Kuranberi Head Shot!" I whispered, a bright, pink bullet exploding out of my gun. I didn't stop there. I shot every alien in sight until they all fell. One of the aliens looked at me, some kind of yo-yo in his hand. I pulled the trigger... But I had no more bullets! I didn't have _time_ to say my attack again! Kukki's eyes widened and she ran to my aid. She... Tackled the man on the ground, and then the other Cyniclons shot her down in the back. I gritted my teeth, acting like the animal I had been infused with. "Reborn, Kuranberi Head Shot!!!" I shouted, killing the man that she pushed on the ground. The other aliens tried to come after me... But Kukki had placed a bomb there.

They all exploded before me.

Blood and guts rained on my head.

Without thinking I ran to my friend's side, holding her up. No!! Nooo!!! "Hold on now Kukki! You're okay! You're okay!!" She started to shake in my arms, closing her eyes. She couldn't! She was my best friend! We were supposed to be Mews together!

"I—I'm n—not! I—I'm not g—going to make it," she said, trying to find air. She was so hurt she couldn't breathe. After that she just... Broke down in sloppy tears. I had to be strong for her. She was strong for me. I wouldn't cry. I just wouldn't!

"Oh yes you are! _Yes you are!_ Now look at me, look—!"

"I—I'm so c-c-cold. I'm so cold!"

My heart was _dying_ here. Please...!

"You're all right..." I said. She kept shaking. She wouldn't stop! That's when I broke down crying too. I wasn't strong. I was weak. I couldn't... I couldn't handle this! I pressed her head up against my chest and she started crying some more.

"Kuranberi... Can you do me a favor...?"

"What?" I whispered. It was all I could do...

"C-could you... Have someone else write my name on the tombstone..."

"You're not going to die!!" I shouted, cupping her bloody head with both of my hands. "You're not going to die, you hear me?!" She started looking at the sky like her life was slipping away. My tears burned my cheeks. "Kukki! Kukki! You're not going to die! You can't die, you hear me? You know why? Because you've got a son at home to take care of..." I paused, my voice cracking. "Remember?"

It hurt her to look at me, but she did anyway.

"No Kuranberi. You do."

* * *

Now I watch his son... Our son playing in the fields... Gazing at the flowers. Kiyoshi stands behind me, putting his hands around my waist. I smile, letting the wind blow my hair back. He pushes me towards our son and I knell down, grabbing him by his stomach.

Little Kiyoshi smiles at me as I pick him up.

He points at the sky.

"Mommy! Mommy!" he says. "I wanna fly in the sky! I want to be a Mew Mew!" I let out a chuckle, looking back at Kiyoshi.

Oh, don't we all...?

I chuckle some more. "You'll be the little hero of the world some day, Kiyoshi."

And someday he can save the world.

Just like she did.


End file.
